ANKARA

Turkish airports hosted 187.4 million passengers, including direct transit ones, in January–September, Türkiye's Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a statement on Wednesday.

The total number of passengers in the first nine months of the year increased 7.6% on an annual basis, the minister said, citing data from the State Airports Authority General Directorate.

Uraloglu stated that some 756,659 domestic flights and 711,652 international flights were operated at Türkiye’s air hubs, with the total reaching 1.8 million, including overflights, in the first nine months of the year, up 7.6%.

In September, some 9.5 million domestic and 12.2 million international passengers traveled through Turkish airports, bringing the total up to 24.7 million, including direct transit passengers, up 10.5% year-on-year.

The number of aircraft taking off and landing at passenger airports was 92,573 on domestic routes and 94,799 on international routes, bringing the total up to 239,335, including overflights in September.

Uraloglu stated that cargo traffic at airports was 712,615 tons on domestic routes and 3.1 million tons on international routes, exceeding a total of 3.8 million tons.

Some 91,460 tons of cargo were transported on domestic flights and 406,058 tons on international flights last month.

IGA Istanbul Airport operated a total of 410,571 flights in January–September and 62.8 million passengers, while Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport on the Anatolian side served 202,965 flights and a total of 35.6 million passengers, and Ataturk Airport—an executive airport—operated 21,835 flights.

In September, IGA Istanbul Airport operated 48,502 flights and 7.6 million passengers, and Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport welcomed 24,669 flights and 4.4 million passengers.

According to Uraloglu, the number of passengers served at airports in tourism centers totaled 50.2 million in the first nine months of the year, with 14.9 million traveling domestically and 35.2 million traveling internationally.

“The total air traffic in these tourism centers was 337,139 flights,” he said.

“During the nine-month period, 9.5 million passengers were served at Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport, 31.3 million at Antalya Airport, 4.7 million at Mugla Dalaman Airport, 3.7 million at Mugla Milas-Bodrum Airport, and 802,596 passengers at Gazipasa Alanya Airport,” he added.